Flirting with Felicity Read Online Free Page B

the hotel.
    She stopped pacing and stared out her third-floor window that
had a partially obstructed view of Puget Sound between two brick buildings. Two
old buildings.
    What was it he’d said about historic preservation?
    Felicity went to her table and pulled out one of the iron and
mosaic chairs. She reached for her laptop and turned it on. The first thing she
did was to search online for information about Blake. What she found only made
her more determined than ever to succeed. After that, she searched for
information on the National Trust for Historic Preservation, then on the
Seattle Historic Preservation Program. The process of applying for historic
protection looked fairly straightforward, because she was the property owner.
From her searches, it appeared the entire process from application to approval
would take no more than six to eight weeks.
    Felicity’s teeth sank into her lower lip. Could she avoid
Blake that entire time other than the two days to which she’d committed? Or was
there some way to expedite the process? She had no idea who she should talk to
about speeding up the process, but she was certain the lawyers who’d handled
Vern’s estate did.
    Determined to succeed, Felicity printed out the application
and filled out as much as she’d learned about the Bancroft Hotel in the three
years she’d worked there. Edward and Marie were the two employees who’d been
with the hotel the longest. She could ask them for more details about the
Bancroft. In the meanwhile, she was determined to look online, on her own, to
see what she could find about the hotel’s past.
    She learned the hotel had survived the Great Seattle Fire of
1889, but that the east wing had been rebuilt after another fire destroyed the
kitchen area in 1993. Two presidents and numerous dignitaries had stayed there over
the years. It had served as a Red Cross station during World War I and World War II, had a fallout shelter installed during the Cold War, and acted as a women’s dormitory for a nearby university. The Bancroft Hotel had a long
history of housing many local families as well as travelers over the past one
hundred years. Some of those local families had been taken away from the
Bancroft and sent to internment camps during World War II. One report she read
said that a room in the basement still contained personal items the Japanese
families left behind.
    Felicity leaned back in her chair. Why had no one ever told
her about that room? She understood why so many families decided to take up
permanent residence at the Bancroft. Like Vern, those residents had access to
all of Seattle’s attractions, including world-class medical care, and the hotel
had a wonderful homey feel. It would be much the same if they’d lived in town
on their own, but without the need to keep up their own place. For an elderly
person, living at the Bancroft was a viable option to an assisted living
facility. She’d have loved to have her father there, if he’d been independent
enough.
    Vern had been one of several permanent residents who had
chosen to spend his retirement years at the Bancroft. Again, regret came to
Felicity. Would she have treated the old man any differently had she known who
he was? She’d never know the answer to that, but at least she was proud of the
time they’d shared together. He’d given her a piece of his legacy, because of
their friendship. She would do everything in her power to help preserve what
Vern had obviously loved.
    Edward, as the manager, might be able to add more detail
about the Bancroft’s history before she took everything over to her lawyers’
office. She’d ask them to prepare and submit her formal application to the
Seattle Historic Preservation Program. Everything had to be perfect. She
couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
    With luck, perhaps they could finish applying before the end
of the week. Time was certainly of the essence, if she were going to keep the
hotel and everyone in it safe from Blake